ROOTED - Tuesday, February 10, 2026

Numbers 21:9; Galatians 3:13; John 3:14-15
9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life

Reflection: The Serpent of Bronze
Written By: Pastor Jesse Caro
Few stories in the Old Testament are as confusing as the story of Numbers 21: the Bronze Serpent. The Children of Israel, yet again, have been grumbling and complaining about Moses and his leadership. God decides to send deadly serpents as a judgment on the people (21:6). Then the people repent, and God tells Moses to make a Bronze serpent, raise it on a pole… “and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live” (verse 8). A simple story, right?

This story is complicated by the fact that the two verses before the most famous verse in the Bible (John 3:16), likens the bronze serpent to Jesus! How could an evil, venomous, and deadly serpent be a picture of Christ? Jesus tells Nicodemus that, like the serpent is lifted up, Jesus will be lifted up. Presumably the connection is that they are both lifted up and bring about salvation. However, the book of Galatians makes the point even clearer. Remember that the snakes were a curse and judgment on the people for their rebellion. So too Jesus became a curse for his people (Galatians 3:13). He became a curse for us. His hanging on the cross was a judgment on Christ… a judgment we should have carried for ourselves.

This story, as confusing as it is, is one that Jesus uses to point to himself as the removal of the curse of sin on us. So, let us be reminded in this Old Testament story that our sin of rebellion against God was deserving of death. But God made a way for us to escape that judgment by becoming a curse for us. He bore our judgment on the cross, and he was lifted up on a cross for our rebellion. This is a great reminder for us as we read through the Old Testament!  

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your Son to take on our judgment. Thank you for always sending your people a way of salvation, and that we now are your children.